TAMPA, Fla. — Kyle Romano has fond memories of his original Nintendo Entertainment System. The gaming system was a gift from his dad and Kyle played the machine until it broke.
“Since then, I have grown up and continued playing,” he said.
Gaming has always been a fun distraction.
Kyle, now 31, stands out in a room full of gamers. He gets his own table during Tuesday night competitions at Next Ridge Games in Tampa. Shop owner Rusty Hunt arranges the room, so Kyle gets a clear view from his powerchair.
“The cool thing about Kyle is he actually messaged us first,” Rusty said. “He said he was disabled. Then we realized he didn’t have any limbs.”
Kyle was born as a healthy baby with two arms and two legs. There was no indication of sickness or disease. Meningococcemia, a rare form of bacterial meningitis, snuck into his body and took over.
Kyle was flown to Shriners Hospital’s burn unit in Cincinnati. His fingers had shriveled and turned black. His toes were purple. Dark spots dotted his chest and legs. A few months before his second birthday, surgeons made the difficult decision to amputate all of his limbs. They had to work quickly to save his life.
“The doctor was going back to the waiting room like 45 minutes later which obviously is very fast for amputating,” Kyle said.
Adjusting to life without limbs came with difficulty, but Kyle never backed away from the challenges. He learned to feed himself and write by holding utensils between his shoulder and cheek. Art became a big part of his life. By three years old, he was in his first powerchair. He grew up with as much normalcy as possible.
“If I want something I go after it. That’s kind of always the way I’ve been,” he said.
Limbless gamer Kyle Romano knows there are no limits in life
He gravitated to gaming. What started with the NES grew into different systems. His Tuesday night league, which includes over a dozen players from around Tampa Bay, plays mostly the classic Ultimate Smash Brothers game.
“He’s better than I am,” admitted Javier Miranda, 19, whose dad, Angel, runs local gaming tournaments.
In fact, Kyle is better than most players.
“It’s actually really cool because he uses everything that he has to play the game,” Rusty said.
Kyle is an interesting sight during gameplay. He manipulates the controller using his chin and lip. With what little bit of a left shoulder he has, he spins the joystick.
Despite his lack of limbs, he still wins his fair share of matches. Rusty says Kyle “can definitely” beat him. Most players look at Kyle as an evenly matched foe rather than a disabled gamer.
“It’s just fun to watch him play and see how he does it,” said Angel. “He just barely looks up because he’s using his bottom lip to push buttons so he’s just kind of looking up as he’s doing that at the same time, so I just want to watch.”
Kyle got a master’s degree from the University of South Florida. He described in his master’s thesis how video games become the “equalizer”.
“Everybody gets on the controller and they play. Whether you have a disability or not at that point becomes irrelevant,” he said.
The same feeling extends to his work life. Kyle manages social media and marketing responsibilities for Largo-based business Custom Mobility, which adapts vehicles to accommodate various physical handicaps.
“Kyle, from a very early age, never let his disability define him and so he’s always kind of gone after what he’s wanted to be able to do and accomplish in life,” Scott McGowan said. “He has found a way to overcome those rules or obstacles.”
Kyle got his first powerchair from Custom Mobility. Now, the company loves having him on the team.
“I tend to not see the disability,” said owner Bruce Bayes. “You don’t look at him as hopeless. You look at him is capable of whatever he wants to do.”
Including his passions.
“Either people are too afraid to come up to me or they come up to me and tell me they have no idea how I play,” Kyle said between chin taps on his controller. “The next question is always how long have I played for, but people are usually super nice.”
His proficiency at fighting games mirrors the way he’s overcome roadblocks in life. Kyle rose above losing his arms and legs by never giving up or giving in.
It’s a big reason a buddy suggested Kyle use the screen name ‘LIMBITLESS’.
“You get the feeling in that gaming world that they just are you, Kyle is another gamer and it doesn’t matter,” Scott said. “They all have the same goal which is who is the last person standing.”
Even without legs.